It’s happening! La Femme Magnifique is BACK!
Once again we are crowning four winners! La Femme Magnifique, La Femme Plus, La Femme Classique and La Femme Enhanced! Did you know this pageant is open to all, even current title holders of other systems/organizations? La Femme is all about glamour and FUN! Want to run? Contact Monica Boulevard to receive your contestant packet. Our Oregon prelim is Sunday July 10th, can’t wait to see everyone there, on stage and off! Winners and 1st runners up in all four divisions will compete Labor Day weekend at the Oregon Convention Center for LaFemme Magnifique International / Plus International Pageant!
The La Femme Magnifique Pageants
La Femme is coming back this year Sunday 9/4/2022 at the convention center!
More details to come!
More details to come!
2022 Oregon Winners:
LaFemme - Binkyee Bellflower
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Plus - Inanna Miss
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Enhanced - Ilani Palacios
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2019 Oregon Winners:
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Classique - Ciara Dela'Rosa (Far Left)
Enhanced - Sheniqua Volt ( Second From Left) La Femme - Kiesha Volt (Third from Left) Plus - Summer Lynn Seasons (Far Right) |
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The Herstory of La Femme
A new decade - the ‘80’s
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We were about to begin a new chapter in our lives here at the club. For financial reasons Roxy and I incorporated and named the company Darcelle XV Productions. After that, our first big foray was to change the Mardi Gras celebration. This celebrated the beginning of the Demas Tavern, now Darcelle XV Showplace from being just a tavern serving beer and wine to a drag venue which started with Tina Sandell (Jerry Farris) and myself (Walter W Cole/Darcelle) – soon Roxy (Roc Neuhardt) performing drag for the ‘lesbians’. Some people don’t believe me, but we were. In fact, in the book “The Gay Insider USA” by John Francis Hunter copyright in 1972, page 544 it states, “Now we will stop at Demas to see the new décor and catch a glimpse of the drag show. The reason this packed place looks like the Isle of Lesbos is that our sisters have taken over tonight.” And don’t get me wrong, we loved Mardis Gras but we thought let’s find another way to celebrate our anniversary at the club to hold this wonderful contest – maybe actually two things at the same time. Sure, it was fun to hold a party and see if people showed up in costume, but what would happen if you held an event that made sure people did show up in a costume. But what. One evening looking through the La Rouge program, there inside read: ‘La Femme’ The Woman – I said, “That’s what we’re going to call it La Femme Magnifique!” And that’s also where I got the La Femme logo
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True, we had the Imperial Sovereign Rose Court that each year crowned an Emperor and Empress, but this was going to be different. This was to find the most qualified glamourous female impersonator that was out there. And, those ‘girls’ were going to be judged by local dignitaries and celebrities like Mayor Vera Katz amongst others...
To keep part of Mardi Gras alive and since Mame (David Hamilton) loved going down there, we gave away tickets to Mardi Gras as the prize. I mean, the first time we did it, we had 100 people waiting outside that couldn’t get in. We’ve done it at various locations – Erickson's Saloon, Melody Ballroom, Red Lion (hotel) Jantzen Beach, Montgomery Park, and now the Oregon Convention Center. Every place we went before the Convention Center we had to bring in our stage, sound, and light system it was work – thank God we found the Convention Center. I physically made the sets in my backyard. I’ve done all seasons, someone had to do it. Oh, one year at the Red Lion the stage wasn’t tall enough so my light guy went over to Home Depot, got some lumber, we used it, and then we returned it the next day and we got our money back. Throughout the year's contestants have come from all over the world, but one criterion, THE criteria, you have to be male – and not in any stage of transition, we do ask the contestants to open their shirts. You can tell if they are on hormone treatments or the like, but their breasts. At one point, I think it was on Le Femme’s 30th pageant, I got on stage and said, “This is it, we’re not doing it anymore.” I didn’t say, why. Why? I was doing everything – the ticket sales, advertising, screening, getting contestants, are the ticket selling – the whole nine yards. For a while we had Faux Frontal – which was the counterpart to Le Femme – this was for women who dressed up as men. It didn’t last very long – no one wanted to compete. I guess it lasted for about three years – people just weren’t excited about it – they wanted the drag look – the glamour. “…female impersonation is an art form, and should be looked upon as such.” LaVern Cummings [LaVerne Cummings was a stage performer as a female impersonator who performed for decades at the legendary Finnochio’s nightclub in San Francisco.] |
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Each Le Femme program has the history of the beginning of La Femme by the one and only Paula Neilsen.
The Creation of a Legend by Paula Neilsen In 1982, Darcelle XV, a Portland, Oregon cabaret, decided to start a beauty pageant for female impersonators. An outlet for up-and-coming drag entertainers n the Pacific Northwest was needed. In 1981 the National Fountain tagged Portland “Drag City.” In this atmosphere, La Femme Magnifique was born. And it didn’t take long for the idea to catch on beyond the Pacific Northwest. During the early years of La Femme, five Pacific Northwest cities held contests. As time progressed, other cities, such as Denver, Honolulu, and Los Angeles started holding local La Femme pageants. Winners from the various cities migrate to Portland over the Labor Day weekend annually to compete for the International title of La Femme Magnifique, proclaiming “the most glamorous female impersonator in the Universe.” The first titleholder to the coveted La Femme crown was Portlander, Lorelei Lee, whom the press hailed as “a haunting expression of Marilyn Monroe.” The rules for entering La Femme are simple. When in orientation phases, prospective contestants are programmed with a keyword – GLAMOUR. Talent also is a prerequisite for those who aspire to the La Femme “Hall of Fame”. At the conclusion of each year’s International Pageant, held the Sunday evening of the Labor Day weekend at the awesome Atrium of Montgomery Park in Portland. In 1999 the pageant moved to the opulent ballroom of the Doubletree Hotel at Jantzen Beach. Spacious and comfortable, the ballroom overlooks the Columbia River. Contestants are judged in four categories: Formal Wear, Theme Look, Talent, and Showgirl Look. contestants are told that merely ‘passing as a woman isn’t the key. Glamor show business, with the ability to strut proudly in high heels, while wearing Las Vegas showgirl headgear, appearing to be just as comfortable as if wearing tennis shoes, and a dynamic charisma that wows the audience, are what it takes to be proclaimed La Femme Magnifique. Since 1982, the La Femme Magnifique beauty pageant has become a legend. Each year the contest becomes more popular and expands to more cities. Will your city be next? |
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Our first La Femme and we got press. However, I would have preferred a more positive one – here goes: “You’re What You Wear” is the title. I might say that the evening dragged on. Sunday evening Darcelle’s was packed for La Femme Magnifique, a pageant to select the most talented female impersonator in the Pacific Northwest.
The mirrored tiles are peeling; the drapes are faded and torn. Even the spray-on glitter on the flowerpots on stage is wearing thin. The boys – I mean the girls – who strut their stuff at Darcelle’s don’t have to worry about being out-dazzled by the décor. Lest it be thought that, the business of being a drag queen is peculiarly contemporary and urban phenomenon. I shouldn’t perhaps mention that the passion usually had two distinct roots: a small town and mummy’s closet. Consider Sunday evening’s contestants. Harley Dee hails from Silverton, Michelle Craig from Coos Bay, and Kelly Grant from Grants Pass. These are not the sort of towns where quiche looms large on local menus. The contest was judged by a trio of (real) women well versed in the art of playing dress-ups. Kathy Smith and Cheryl Hansen of KGW-TV, and Junia Stephens of KPTV turned out to be terribly good sports. Channel 8’s three-times-a day before meals news anchor, for example was introduced as looking “as radiant as Liz Taylor…but not quite as well developed.” Hansen was called “butch” for showing up with a cast on a broken ankle – the latest testament to oft-quoted ferocity on the racquetball court. In the final analyses, the choice of judges and crowd was unanimous. The crown went to Lorelel Lee, a young man who wowed the house with his positively eerie performance as Marilyn Monroe. |
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First press about La Femme Magnifique:
The Oregonian, Friday, September 23, 1983, Metro/Northwest Jonathan Nicholas column:
DRAG RACE: Sunday at 8 p.m. Darcelle XV il shudder beneath an onslaught of sequins and sin as the regional finals of La Femme Magnifique beauty pageant come to town. If you find the Miss America contest as boring as I don, then you could be ready to watch these ‘femmes Magnifique’ take a walk on the wild side.
The Oregonian, Friday, September 23, 1983, Metro/Northwest Jonathan Nicholas column:
DRAG RACE: Sunday at 8 p.m. Darcelle XV il shudder beneath an onslaught of sequins and sin as the regional finals of La Femme Magnifique beauty pageant come to town. If you find the Miss America contest as boring as I don, then you could be ready to watch these ‘femmes Magnifique’ take a walk on the wild side.
Le MAGNIFIQUE
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